Urad (Black Gram)
Sow in October, harvest around January
Still sowing time: sow by the end of December.
No figures for this season in your district. Priced from mandis across your state.
Only with irrigation: rain gives too little of its water to count on
- Needs care: Risky: 3 irrigations short
- Needs care: Cool in November
- Suits: Soil 9/10
Why, and how to make it work Hide details
Water
Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.
Needs about 220 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain in its months gives about 0 mm it can use in a normal year (0 mm in a dry one), and the soil holds about 100 mm from the monsoon at sowing.
Temperature
Grows best at 22–35 °C on average, and survives 8–40 °C.
Here, in its growing months (day / night):
- Oct 33 °C / 19 °C
- Nov 30 °C / 14 °C (outside its best range)
- Dec 25 °C / 10 °C (outside its best range)
Months in orange are outside its best range.
Soil
Soil for Urad (Black Gram): 9 out of 10 (good).
Not in the score: nitrogen and boron.
- The pH here suits it.
- Most fields here are short of organic carbon.
Likes pH 5.5–6.5.
How the soil score worksMoney
Yield: about 1.6 quintals an acre here in its other seasons (district figures).
Rain gives it too little of the water it needs, so there's no income figure on rain alone: grow it only with irrigation.
Mandi price at last season's harvest (January–February 2026): about ₹5,859 a quintal across mandis in your state.
This week: about ₹7,084 a quintal, the middle of 17 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov).
Minimum support price: ₹8,200 a quintal (2026-27), if you sell to government procurement.
- ₹5,880 2021
- ₹5,120 2022
- ₹6,550 2023
- ₹7,410 2024
- ₹5,410 2025
Prices are usually best in October.
Typical costs are about ₹14,000 an acre (seed, fertiliser, labour and hired machines, from the government's cost survey). They are spent whatever the harvest.
How to make it work
The better districts with similar soil, rain and warmth get 2.9 quintals an acre. That's a realistic target.
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Short of organic carbon Your soil is likely short of organic carbon.
Add 4 tonnes of compost or farmyard manure per acre before sowing, and plough crop leftovers back in instead of burning them.
Few local farmers add it to this crop, so it's an easy place to get ahead.
What local farmers put on it (share of fields):
- Urea 19%
- Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) 2%